How do businesses in Bristol feel about greater devolution of powers to the city-region?

In the weeks following the General Election, George Osborne has re-affirmed his commitment to delivering the ’Northern Powerhouse’, and clearly set out the terms by which all UK cities can gain additional powers to help them grow in the future in the shape of a Cities and Local Government Bill.

The arguments over devolution so far have been led by local and national and politicians arguing that putting more power in their hands will lead to greater economic development and improved public services. But the private sector will be vital to make this happen, and must have a central voice in the devolution debates in every city to ensure that firms can play their part in supporting these objectives and are able to take advantage of the opportunities more local decision making can unlock.

This private roundtable of business leaders in Bristol seeks to engage the private sector and understand its views on what the city devolution agenda means for your area. The evidence gathered at this breakfast roundtable, in addition to city-by-city polling of the business communities in Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, will inform a new report from Centre for Cities, in partnership with UK law firm TLT, for local and national policymakers. Business West have kindly supported the Bristol city-region research. The report will help them to understand the views and motivations of local businesses as devolution accelerates across much of the country.

In particular we will ask:

• Are businesses in favour of further city devolution, and under what circumstances?
• Do firms want to see governance reform at the local level before new powers are devolved?
• Are businesses in favour of elements of fiscal devolution in the future?
• What are the risks with these approaches, and how can they best be mitigated by cities, national government and businesses themselves?

This event is by invitation only, but if you are interested in coming along, or to find out more about the event series and follow-up paper, please contact Simon Jeffrey.

Supported by TLT and Business West